This director loves making friends.

Chapter 154 What's wrong with being high-profile?

Xie Fei is actually not that old; he is only 52 years old this year and still looks middle-aged.

However, today he was quite "stylish" with his hands behind his back, like a little old man. He leisurely went to the school gate early in the morning and stayed for a long time under the big red banner hanging at the school gate.

"Good morning, Teacher Liang. I just got here myself. I didn't expect the school to make such a big fuss about my student."

"Good morning, Teacher Wang. Yes, I just saw it too. Haha, I didn't expect that brat to actually win the Golden Bear!"

"Good morning, Professor Situ. I didn't expect Berlin to be so bold. Last year they just gave it to 'Woman Sesame Oil Maker,' and this year they've given it to my student's 'Old Boy' —"

"Good morning, Teacher Jiang. I never expected that my disappointing student would win a Golden Bear. The school even hung up a red banner to celebrate!"

"Good morning—Old Zheng, you're a bit late today. I—hey, I'm late too. I didn't expect to see this as soon as I got to the school gate. That kid—blind, he actually got a Golden Bear!"

Xie Fei stood at the school gate for half an hour, greeting all the familiar faces before leisurely leaving.

He certainly made a high-profile appearance today.

Last year, when his film *Woman Sesame Oil Maker* won the Golden Bear, he was extremely low-key and showed no intention of showing off.

Li was very calm and didn't think there was anything special about it. She even stopped the school from hanging banners to celebrate.

This year is different!

Xie Fei personally went to Berlin to try and find connections for "Old Boys," spending more than ten days there, but ultimately failed to achieve his goal.

He returned from Berlin with great regret.

"Old Boys" is a film that has the potential to win the highest awards.

Berlin Film Festival director Moritz, and his good friend, marketing director Barco, both agree with this.

However, Xie Fei felt regretful and disappointed that a film called "In the Name of the Father" was going to be at the Berlin Film Festival this year. He had seen the film during his time in Berlin, and could only say that the film was more suitable for Berlin.

It's not that it's of higher quality than "Oldboy," but rather that it's more suitable for the Berlin Film Festival.

In addition, with his good friend Barco hinting that it's unlikely Berlin will award the Golden Bear to a Chinese film this year, this falls under the category of "force majeure."

Xie Fei, who has served as the head of the directing department and vice president of the Beijing Film Academy, certainly wouldn't naively believe that a film of high quality will necessarily win awards.

This is also why he came to Berlin in person.

Unfortunately, while film quality and marketing strategies are important for winning awards, sometimes luck is even more crucial.

Clearly, Old Boys didn't have the luck to win the Golden Bear.

However, it wasn't all for naught; Balco had hinted that Qin Keqing was a great director.

Although the words were spoken cryptically, Xie Fei was a seasoned veteran and naturally understood their meaning.

Since we can't win the Golden Bear, let's settle for Best Director.

This was the result of his trip to Berlin, and it can also be seen as paving the way for his young apprentice.

Xie Fei was unwilling to do such "dirty" things deep down.

But there was nothing he could do. He knew very well that even though the three major European film festivals were recognized worldwide as artistic meccas, it was extremely difficult to win an award without any connections or connections, unless one had incredible luck.

Just like last year when his film "Woman Sesame Oil Maker" won the Golden Bear, in addition to Zhang Yimou's help, his old friend Balco also played an important role.

In fact, under normal circumstances, Xie Fei would not be as high-profile as he is today.

He was just too excited.

Two reasons.

First, Qin Keqing did not take the "wrong path" and did not, like Chen Kaige, use the Berlin Film Festival as a pledge of loyalty, thus switching to the Cannes Film Festival and severing the Beijing Film Academy's connections in Berlin.

Xie Fei knew very well that if Qin Keqing also followed Chen Kaige's example and used the Berlin Film Festival as a pledge to win over the Cannes Film Festival, then "Old Boys" would most likely win the Palme d'Or at Cannes, since Qin Keqing was a Cannes protégé.

However, from now on, the Nortel Institute can forget about making a living in Berlin.

Berlin would never tolerate another "Chen Kaige" from the Beijing Film Academy.

Secondly, Old Boys unexpectedly won the Golden Bear!

This was completely beyond Xie Fei's expectations. If "Old Boys" had won the Golden Bear, there would have been no way he wouldn't have received a hint from Berlin when he went there.

Especially considering that "Old Boys" still won the Golden Bear despite Xu Feng's relentless pursuit, this is undoubtedly something to celebrate.

Upon learning that "Old Boys" had won the Golden Bear, Xie Fei immediately called Barco to express his gratitude.

He believed that Oldboy's award was due to Barco's help.

Barco did not take credit for himself, nor did he dare to, because the decision was made personally by Chairman Moritz.

Subsequently, after a tacit analysis, the two agreed that the Chairman deliberately "suppressed" "In the Name of the Father" to teach Xu Feng a big lesson and intentionally escalated the conflict.

Otherwise, how can this be explained?

Could Chairman Moritz really treat Qin Keqing like his own son?

Even now, Xie Fei is still marveling at his luck after hanging up the phone!

A stroke of luck by sheer chance.

So, given Qin Keqing's strength and good luck, what reason does his teacher have not to be high-profile?

It's worth noting that Qin Keqing was not yet thirty years old, while Zhang Yimou was already 37 when he won the Golden Bear Award for his directorial debut, "Red Sorghum".

Just look at the school's performance this time, and you'll know how prestigious Qin Keqing's Golden Bear award is.

Before Xie Fei could say anything, the school immediately hung up a big red banner to celebrate—last time, when Qin Keqing's "Uncle" broke the North American Chinese box office record, it was Xie Fei who slammed his fist on the table to get it.

This shows how much the school values ​​Qin Keqing's achievement of the Golden Bear Award at such a young age.

Not long after Xie Fei returned to his office, he received another piece of good news over the phone: the nominations for the 66th Academy Awards had been announced, and "The Man from Nowhere" had received three nominations: Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Production Design.

When good things happen, people are in high spirits. Xie Fei left his office again without hesitation. This time, he didn't go to the school gate, but instead strolled around the office area.

"Hey, old Situ, you also heard about the 66th Academy Awards nominations? What a pity, *The Man from Nowhere*..."

It only received three nominations: Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Production Design.

"Hey, Lao Zheng, did you also hear that Qin Keqing's 'The Uncle' only received three Oscar nominations: Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Production Design? What a pity—"

"What a coincidence, Teacher Jiang. I was feeling a bit feverish and came out for a walk. You know, a movie that broke the North American box office record for Chinese-language films only received three Oscar nominations: Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Production Design. Qin Keqing is a bit disappointing."

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